Campus Watch

Harris to Cleveland?

Paul Harris, the former Niagara Falls High School and Syracuse swingman, is currently in the middle of a three-day workout with the Cleveland Cavs and will decide Monday if he will play with the team for the summer league, Falls assistant coach Sal Constantino said on Sunday.

The Syracuse Post-Standard is reporting that Harris, who turned pro following his junior year, will play with the Cavs but he will decide between Cleveland, Chicago and Minnesota today, Constantino said. Harris was not drafted in last Thursday's draft.

Also, Jonny Flynn, who was selected in the first round by Minnesota, will recieve a key to City of Niagara Falls on Monday evening. The ceremony begins at 7 p.m., will be held at City Hall.

---Rodney McKissic

Flynn can't beat the cold weather

Jonny Flynn grew up in Niagara Falls and went to college in Syracuse, two megas for cold weather, and now he's headed to a place that's even colder: Minneapolis, Minn.

According to Wikipedia, Minneapolis is sometimes subjected to cold Arctic air masses, especially during January through February. The average annual temperature of 45.4 degrees gives the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area the coldest annual mean temperature of any major metropolitan area in the continental United States.

"I don't know, it might be a little cold for me,'' Flynn said.

But Spanish guard Ricky Rubio, Flynn's new teammate, will have a bigger adjustment.

"He's coming from Spain, I don't think it ever snows over there," Flynn said. "I can give him what kind of clothes to buy and what snowshoes to buy and things like that. It will be fun."

---Rodney McKissic

Countdown to the draft

Jonny Flynn is having a pre-draft meal as he awaits his destiny. He told me he had no idea where he's headed but chances are he'll end up in Minnesota who has picks Nos. 5 and 6.

---Rodney McKissic

Clippers draft day misses

The L.A. Clippers, who own the No. 1 pick in tonight's draft, have made some rather curious draft choices over the years. Here's a look at their picks since 1980:

1980
Drafted: Michael Brooks
Still on the board: Kiki Vandeweghe, Larry Smith, Jeff Ruland, Louis Orr and Rick Mahorn

1981
Drafted: Tom Chambers
Still on the board: Rolando Blackman, Larry Nance and Danny Ainge

1982
Drafted: Terry Cummings
Still on the board: Dominique Wilkins
Note: Cummings played well and was the league’s Rookie of the Year that year, Wilkins – aka the Human Highlight Film – is in the Hall of Fame.

1983
Drafted: Byron Scott
Still on the board: Clyde Drexler
Note: Scott was eventually traded to the Lakers for an aging Norm Nixon.

1984
Drafted: Lancaster Gordon and Michael Cage
Still on the board: Kevin Willis, John Stockton and Jerome Kersey

1985
Drafted: Benoit Benjamin
Still on the board: Xavier McDaniel, Chris Mullin, Detlef Schrempf, Karl Malone, Joe Dumars, A.C. Green and Terry Porter. Not to mention John “Hot Rod’’ Williams and Gerald Wilkins.

1986
Note: Traded to Philadelphia in 1979 for Joe “Kobe’s Daddy’’ Bryant. The pick ended up being the first pick in the draft which eventually landed in Cleveland who selected Brad Daugherty). They still passed on Drazen Petrovic in the third round.

1987
Drafted: Reggie Williams, Joe Wolf and Ken Norman
Still on the board: Scottie Pippen, Kenny Smith, Derrick McKey, Horace Grant, Reggie Miller, Mark Jackson and Reggie Lewis

1988
Drafted: Danny Manning and Hersey Hawkins. In a three-way trade, the Clippers landed Charles Smith and Gary Grant and the 15th overall selection.
Still on the board: Rik Smits, Mitch Richmond, Dan Majerle and Rod Strickland.
Notes: Manning was the No. 1 pick overall and knee injuries hampered a once promising career. It could be argued that this was one of the few times the Clippers picked the right player and pulled off a good deal.

1989
Drafted: Danny Ferry
Still on the board: Sean Elliott, Glen Rice, Nick Anderson, Tim Hardaway, Shawn Kemp, Sherman Douglas and Cliff Robinson

1990
Drafted: Bo Kimble and Loy Vaught
Still on the board: Tyrone Hill, Dee Brown and Toni Kukoc

1991
Drafted: LeRon Ellis
Still on the board: Rick Fox
Note: Also had the No. 9 pick but traded to the Hawks for aging Doc Rivers. Hawks selected Stacey Augmon.

1992
Drafted: Randy Woods and Elmore Spencer
Still on the board: Latrell Sprewell

1993
Drafted: Terry Dehere
Still on the board: Sam Cassell and Nick Van Exel

1994
Drafted: Lamond Murray and Greg Minor
Still on the board: Brian Grant, Eddie Jones, Jalen Rose and Aaron McKie

1995
Drafted: Antonio McDyess
Still on the board: Rasheed Wallace and Kevin Garnett
Notes: Great pick but one that was eventually traded to Denver for Rodney Rogers.

1996
Drafted: Lorenzen Wright
Still on the board: Kobe Byrant, Predrag Stojakovic, Steve Nash, Jermaine O’Neal, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Derek Fisher

1997
Drafted: Maurice Taylor
Still on the board: Brevin Knight and Bobby Jackson

1998
Drafted: Michael Olowokandi and Brian Skinner
Still on the board: Mike Bibby, Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce

1999
Drafted: Lamar Odom
Still on the board: Andre Miller
Note: Odom was the No. 4 pick overall and was argubably the best player on the board. Clips make the right pick again.

2000
Drafted: Darius Miles and Quentin Richardson
Still on the board: Mike Miller, Jamal Crawford
Note: Miles was a huge bust but the Clippers redeemed themselves by drafting Richardson.

2001
Drafted: Tyson Chandler
Still on the board: Pau Gasol, Shane Battier, Joe Johnson, Tony Parker and Gilbert Arenas
Note: Traded Chandler to Chicago for Rookie of the Year Elton Brand. Great move.

2002
Drafted: Chris Wilcox and Melvin Ely
Still on the board: Tayshaun Prince and Carlos Boozier

2003
Drafted: Chris Kaman
Still on the board: David West

2004
Drafted: Shaun Livingston
Still on the board: Luol Deng, Andre Iguodala, Al Jefferson, Josh Smith, J.R. Smith and Trevor Ariza Notes: At the time, you couldn’t argue with picking Livingston. It wasn’t the Clippers fault that he suffered a devastating knee injury that robbed the NBA of one of the great young guards.

2005
Drafted: Yaroslav Korolev
Still on the board: Danny Granger

2006
Note: No pick in the first round but in the second, they passed on Paul Milsap.

2007
Drafted: Al Thorton
Still on the board: Rodney Stuckey

2008
Drafted: Eric Gordon
Still on the board: Jason Thompson

---Rodney McKissic

Flynn patterns his game after Paul (no, not Harris)

The knock on Jonny Flynn is his height, but if you look around the league lack of size hasn't slowed down players like Tony Parker, Aaron Brooks and Chris Paul, who Flynn says he patterns his game after.

"I have some characteristics of Chris Paul with his tenacity," Flynn said. "He's hard as nails and he's a tough guy. He fires up his teammates and he's one of the best playmakers in basketball. He really knows how to get his teammates the ball in positions where they can score. That's a sign of a great point guard. He gets into the right position where they don't have to do too much to score the basketball."

Flynn had his last pre-draft interview on Tuesday in New Jersey but didn't participate in a workout.

---Rodney McKissic

Same city, different paths

Years ago many hoop fans from Western New York were convinced that Jonny Flynn and Paul Harris were a package deal for Syracuse University but as the NBA Draft approaches, the former Niagara Falls High School stars are taking different paths to the pros.

Flynn is working out for the Golden State Warriors today, worked out with the New York Knicks on Wednesday and is scheduled for Sacramento on Friday. While Flynn is taking on all comers during his workouts prospects like Arizona State shooting guard James Harden are taking another approach. Harden, for example, won’t workout against Memphis Tyreke Evans because he is currently ranked higher than Evans on most mock drafts and has nothing to gain.

“I ain’t ducking nobody,’’ Flynn told his longtime mentor, Sal Constantino, a few nights ago. “I’m going to every workout they want me to go to and whoever is there, is there.’’

Flynn has been very impressive during his workouts and has elevated from a late first-round pick into a possible position in the top five. After he announced he was leaving Syracuse, Flynn was rated behind Brandon Jennings, who played overseas last year but now he ranks ahead. With Ricky Rubio having difficulties getting out of his contract with his Spanish league team DKV, Flynn could be the top point guard taken.

Harris, who left Syracuse after his junior season, competed recently as part of a group workout with the Minnesota Timberwolves and is scheduled for another with the New Jersey Nets next week. Harris was scheduled to workout for the Toronto Raptors but had problems with his passport. The Timberwolves have shown the most interest and have second round picks at 45 and 47.

“Paul seems to have that eye back,’’ Constantino said. “Jonny told me the other day, ‘Sal, Paul’s got that confidence back when he played back in high school.’ I remember when he was in high school he got calls from the Celtics and the Spurs. He could have gotten picked, probably in the second round, out of high school.’’

Like Flynn, Harris worked out in Chicago under trainer Tim Grover. The reviews on Harris were generally positive, especially after a workout against Andre Iguodala of the Philadelphia 76ers

“He killed Iguodala,’’ Constantino said. “That was the talk of the camp. He gave Iguodala a workout.’’

Harris does have the intangibles NBA GMs are seeking like his impressive physique.

“You wouldn’t call him a shooter, but he’s going to guard the heck out of the ball,’’ Constantino said. “He’s going to have a chance to play some place.’’

---Rodney McKissic

Flynn will work out with Kings

Jonny Flynn is scheduled to work out this Friday with the Sacramento Kings along with UCLA's Jrue Holiday and Italy's Brandon Jennings.

The Kings hold the No. 4 pick and are in the market for a point guard. From the sound of it, Flynn, Holiday and Jennings will battle it out with the winner being selected by the Kings, who have struggled at point guard since trading away Mike Bibby to Atlanta.

---Rodney McKissic

Flynn working out for Raptors

Jonny Flynn will work out for the Toronto Raptors at 11 a.m., today at the team's practice facility in the Air Canada Centre. The Raptors are selecting ninth in the upcoming NBA draft.

The former Niagara Falls and Syracuse University point guard will work out alongside UCLA's Jrue Holiday, Arizona's Chase Budinger, Texas' Damion James, Georgia Tech's Alade Aminu and Michigan State's Goran Suton.

---Rodney McKissic

Report: Flynn works out for Bulls

There's an interesting report out of Chicago that Jonny Flynn worked out secretly for the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls own the 16th and 26th picks and already have a young point guard in rookie of the year Derrick Rose. Besides, most mock drafts have Flynn going near the end of the Lottery. But since he was already in Chicago working out for the NBA Combine, the Bulls figured it wouldn't hurt to evaluate Flynn.

Speaking of the Combine, ESPNU will televise five hours of the event at beginning at 2 p.m. Thursday and 10 a.m. ESPNU will provide an up-close look at the 2009 draft prospects as they test and train in various strength and skill drills. Flynn is expected to participate in the event as well as Davidson’s Stephen Curry, USC’s DeMar DeRozan, Memphis’ Tyreke Evans, Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin, UCLA’s Jrue Holiday, North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson, and Connecticut’s Hasheem Thabeet.

---Rodney McKissic

Flynn: Big man in the draft

Jonny Flynn is one of the smallest players available in next month's NBA draft but as ESPN.com's Chad Ford points out while there's an unwritten rule about players standing under 6-feet tall, Flynn hopes his lack of size doesn't overshadow all of the other great parts of his game.

Here's some interviews and workouts at Attack Athletics from Flynn. In this one, you'll see Paul Harris talking instruction and walking around. Yo Paul, give a brother a call for an interview, will ya?

 

---Rodney McKissic